New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1887-03-21
4 STRIKE AMONG THE SMiLL FRY
ONE HUNDRED CHILDREN QrIr WORK AND UPSET
AVN l. cuMMUNGrY-rHEY ARE LED BY A
CIHI. OF SIXTEEN.

ONE HUNDRED cfILDkEN QUIT WORK AND UPSET
AVN l.. cuMMUNITY-rHEY ARE LED By
GIRL OF SIXTEEN.
NORWICH Conn. March 2O.-Four weeks ago the spin
nor. ud spopcr, the Shetucket Cotton Mill at Green
vile tc northeastern outskrt of city struck for an
increase OF wages. and, the result OF the action De
tween i've hun led ami hundred people were thrown
ont Of cmpln,ment The strikers themselves number
something more than hundred. They are for the
most part under hftccn years Of age. ana their leer'
Maggie Ellen sullivan Is girl who has not yet seen her
seventeenth No one tholght at nr't that tue
strike woul be "A thing OF than two or three days
Duration the lopinon was rcgarielmercy as
pcce of fun on the part boys aud girls engaged in
IL and even thc mill operatives not actively coh-
cerued II could not bring themselves 10 look upon
It as anything but u joke. Tho fact soon became
apparent. however that tho youngsters meant
business. Their demand for an Increase Oh teh
cents ON every dollar OF their weekly earnings
except In the OF the poorest paid operatives VINO
were getting only - or - 30 aud who wanted an al
vance To 81 When tho dema al was male tue supcrih'
tcndcnt o the mill promised u lay the mater oe'orc INC
board II directors aud Ia report their decision "hh
day or two This declared to be satisfactory oue
tl. spinncrs and spo ,crs changed Their m@inns minds
about IL later in the day and Without any
notice Ia their fcilow-operati'es ~ III '"c LII %nIy
cior tne close of Working hours The big establishment
could not he run without them, ana IL was "o'ou'"e'
Oi these 100 strikers probably not more thn ian
thirty or forty had any proper understanding w 1 o
action that they had taken and Of the Consequences ,e
were likely Ia cnsuu fro II. The others Wcro a'Svtoa
too young give matter any serious lough io,, @
The strike got he week old deternhou chol. "a'
made To bring "A close. The nlil oplal'cs noV -,
gagged In it did not care continue lde even .oS
could afford so and their influence 10 arsc oN', &
was thrown against the young labor aIltatorS , io
strikers also had much To conte"d Wth III nv tnu,a
own families, whose means OF snpPor' am,o .a,,o
almost altogether from the mill inc,, pu pu IN
urged and kept urging them to return 10 w9rk anu t
these appeals they seconded by the oathoc pioo ,h
here Who both IN public and in private auVlson ~ ,g 1
abanionnen, OF the strike Dear ears were tI 80 W 81
These eureatics and counsc, however, ow ing " , s
10 the influence cxcrlcd by Maggie Ellen Nno mrst
al,out among her young assOclacsl III the iepcoh
capitul cncour.gng them to continue III tneli @
and cheering them with the hope or success u" 'no io
| ward OF pcr-cverlng effort , -, ., ro,, no ,rtily
There l. no question that both sides are now nc'i.'y
tired Of The srik- and that both would Dc elau W so
brou ,ht Ia An end though neither has yct sur" Ia,
cid.d inclination Yield 20 the other III IL ocIo.eu I
an attempt will made O start the mil nofe r
uooer families involved in the strike nave area.
TO suffer- though they kept from apsoluto 4,
contributions from the Knights OF LABOR. secutu,
snid by the sullivan gir who insists upon nun hneo
of the light hitter end Many or thel hno ,to,,
turned their houses by the u company. ana
are now quartered in Easements previously ~ &
Ijpess way out " the difficulty Is l0iiid IN tnc no, %
futute there likely be great ucai oi s.uolnS
among the 300 or 300 people VINO nave oceh ueP
ent upon the mill for tho means ot support